Shore Guy
17th Dec 2003, 04:11
Reuters
Boeing drops pilot suicide claims against SilkAir
Tuesday December 16, 7:17 am ET
SINGAPORE, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Boeing Co (NYSE:BA - News) has dropped a lawsuit against SilkAir and the pilot of the passenger jet that mysteriously crashed in 1997 after new evidence suggested a mechanical fault, a Singapore newspaper reported on Tuesday.
SilkAir Flight MI 185 from Jakarta to Singapore plunged into Indonesia's Musi River on December 19, 1997, killing all 104 people aboard.
Air traffic controllers received no distress call and Indonesian transport authorities said the wreckage "yielded no evidence to explain the cause of the accident".
SilkAir was not immediately available for comment.
Lawyers representing the families of the passengers had argued in a Singapore court two years ago that the aircraft was deliberately put into a nose-dive by the pilot.
Singapore's New Paper in its afternoon edition said lawyers for SilkAir's insurers said Boeing had dropped its suit against the pilot Captain Tsu Way Ming and the carrier, a unit of Singapore Airlines Ltd (SES:SIAL.SI - News), Asia's largest airline by market value.
Boeing had also reached an out-of-court settlement with families of the crash victims, the newspaper reported.
The aircraft maker had previously alleged that pilot action had caused the crash.
But the newspaper said new evidence points to a rudder malfunction, which likely caused the plane to go into a fatal nose dive.
Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee said in an earlier crash report that the highly fragmented wreckage "yielded no evidence to explain the cause of the accident".
The New Paper - 17 Dec 2003
SILKAIRE MI 185 CRASH: Boeing agrees to settle outof court
Victims have yet to agree, say lawyers
By Karen Wong
FROM the word go, aircraft-maker Boeing has maintained that pilot suicide, not a defective aircraft, led to the tragic crash of SilkAir MI 185 in 1997.
Now, The New Paper has learnt from the lawyers for SilkAir's insurers that Boeing has dropped its suit against the pilot, Captain Tsu Way Ming, and his employer, the airline. This means that it is no longer pursuing its original claim that the pilot had intentionally crashed the plane.
In another twist, Boeing has also reached an out-of-court settlement with families of the crash victims.
With three days to go before the sixth anniversary of the crash, relatives of those who died may finally have a closure to the case.
Details of the settlement with the families are still being worked out, American lawyers for the families told The New Paper, as the agreement has been accepted by the lawyers, but not yet formally agreed on by the families.
'The amount to be paid by Boeing is in addition to the US$200,000 paid by SilkAir and, we believe, reflects Boeing's recognition of the potential that a jury could find in favour of the next-of-kin and against Boeing for this loss,' said Mr Tom Ellis, director of litigation support at Nolan Law Group, which represents 15 families in this action.
'However, it is not a formal admission of liability by Boeing,' he added.
RECIPROCAL MOVE
In a reciprocal move, SilkAir's insurer, Singapore Aviation and General Insurance Company (Sagi) - a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines - has also dropped its $100 million lawsuit against Boeing and other aircraft component manufacturers for supplying a 'defective aircraft'.
The latest moves come on the back of crucial new evidence which appears to suggest the fatal crash was due to a rudder malfunction.
In May this year, The New Paper reported that on closer scrutiny of the plane's flight data recorder (FDR), American aviation experts found that it had not stopped recording minutes before the dive, as earlier thought, but had gone on recording upon the plane's dive.
And according to Nolan Law Group, which appointed the experts, the data in the FDR pointed to a problem with the rudder.
The evidence, which had apparently eluded the official investigators, would rule out pilot suicide as a cause of the mysterious crash that killed all 104 people on board.
Such a conclusion is also consistent with the finding of the Singapore High Court in 2001, that there was not enough evidence to suggest intentional pilot action had caused the crash.
The court then dismissed the legal claims against the airline by family members of six victims.
The theory that a possible faulty rudder led to the crash has prompted several families to pursue their claim with the component manufacturer.
They had sued Parker-Hannifin Corporation - which makes the rudder power control unit - and the trial has been set to go on in the US, in April next year.
This is the only outstanding legal action left, in relation to the SilkAir MI 185 crash.
On the settlement between Boeing and the airline's insurer, the lawyer for SilkAir's insurer, Mr Philip Bass from Beaumont & Sons, said: 'There's been a mutual dismissal of the claims which has brought this long-standing matter to a close.'
Yesterday , Mr Ellis confirmed that they have tentatively resolved the matter with Boeing.
'If everything goes as it should, all of the claims by all of the next-of-kin against Boeing should be settled,' he told The New Paper in a phone interview.
Other lawyers say that it is not unusual for plane crash settlements to exceed millions of dollars.
SIGNIFICANT DISCOVERY
In May, Professor Oetarjo Diran, who headed the crash's official investigations, told The New Paper that while he had not examined the new evidence personally, it was indeed a significant discovery if it was true.
When contacted yesterday, Prof Diran, who has since retired as chairman of the Indonesian NTSC, said: 'If both sides cannot prove their points, they usually settle out of court.'
He noted that the NTSC couldn't conclude it was an 'intentional pilot action' either.
In the NTSC's official crash report, the only conclusion it arrived at was that it could not give a definite conclusion as to what had led to the crash.
But while the latest development may give more credence to the faulty rudder theory, it will not ease the pain for the family members of those who died.
Mr Ho Soo Leang, 37, who lost his sister, senior flight stewardess Ho Soo Phong who was then 29, is involved in the lawsuit against Boeing.
He said: 'The conclusion about the crash lies with the individual.
'But not being able to leave no stone unturned will be with us for the rest of our lives.'
Boeing drops pilot suicide claims against SilkAir
Tuesday December 16, 7:17 am ET
SINGAPORE, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Boeing Co (NYSE:BA - News) has dropped a lawsuit against SilkAir and the pilot of the passenger jet that mysteriously crashed in 1997 after new evidence suggested a mechanical fault, a Singapore newspaper reported on Tuesday.
SilkAir Flight MI 185 from Jakarta to Singapore plunged into Indonesia's Musi River on December 19, 1997, killing all 104 people aboard.
Air traffic controllers received no distress call and Indonesian transport authorities said the wreckage "yielded no evidence to explain the cause of the accident".
SilkAir was not immediately available for comment.
Lawyers representing the families of the passengers had argued in a Singapore court two years ago that the aircraft was deliberately put into a nose-dive by the pilot.
Singapore's New Paper in its afternoon edition said lawyers for SilkAir's insurers said Boeing had dropped its suit against the pilot Captain Tsu Way Ming and the carrier, a unit of Singapore Airlines Ltd (SES:SIAL.SI - News), Asia's largest airline by market value.
Boeing had also reached an out-of-court settlement with families of the crash victims, the newspaper reported.
The aircraft maker had previously alleged that pilot action had caused the crash.
But the newspaper said new evidence points to a rudder malfunction, which likely caused the plane to go into a fatal nose dive.
Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee said in an earlier crash report that the highly fragmented wreckage "yielded no evidence to explain the cause of the accident".
The New Paper - 17 Dec 2003
SILKAIRE MI 185 CRASH: Boeing agrees to settle outof court
Victims have yet to agree, say lawyers
By Karen Wong
FROM the word go, aircraft-maker Boeing has maintained that pilot suicide, not a defective aircraft, led to the tragic crash of SilkAir MI 185 in 1997.
Now, The New Paper has learnt from the lawyers for SilkAir's insurers that Boeing has dropped its suit against the pilot, Captain Tsu Way Ming, and his employer, the airline. This means that it is no longer pursuing its original claim that the pilot had intentionally crashed the plane.
In another twist, Boeing has also reached an out-of-court settlement with families of the crash victims.
With three days to go before the sixth anniversary of the crash, relatives of those who died may finally have a closure to the case.
Details of the settlement with the families are still being worked out, American lawyers for the families told The New Paper, as the agreement has been accepted by the lawyers, but not yet formally agreed on by the families.
'The amount to be paid by Boeing is in addition to the US$200,000 paid by SilkAir and, we believe, reflects Boeing's recognition of the potential that a jury could find in favour of the next-of-kin and against Boeing for this loss,' said Mr Tom Ellis, director of litigation support at Nolan Law Group, which represents 15 families in this action.
'However, it is not a formal admission of liability by Boeing,' he added.
RECIPROCAL MOVE
In a reciprocal move, SilkAir's insurer, Singapore Aviation and General Insurance Company (Sagi) - a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines - has also dropped its $100 million lawsuit against Boeing and other aircraft component manufacturers for supplying a 'defective aircraft'.
The latest moves come on the back of crucial new evidence which appears to suggest the fatal crash was due to a rudder malfunction.
In May this year, The New Paper reported that on closer scrutiny of the plane's flight data recorder (FDR), American aviation experts found that it had not stopped recording minutes before the dive, as earlier thought, but had gone on recording upon the plane's dive.
And according to Nolan Law Group, which appointed the experts, the data in the FDR pointed to a problem with the rudder.
The evidence, which had apparently eluded the official investigators, would rule out pilot suicide as a cause of the mysterious crash that killed all 104 people on board.
Such a conclusion is also consistent with the finding of the Singapore High Court in 2001, that there was not enough evidence to suggest intentional pilot action had caused the crash.
The court then dismissed the legal claims against the airline by family members of six victims.
The theory that a possible faulty rudder led to the crash has prompted several families to pursue their claim with the component manufacturer.
They had sued Parker-Hannifin Corporation - which makes the rudder power control unit - and the trial has been set to go on in the US, in April next year.
This is the only outstanding legal action left, in relation to the SilkAir MI 185 crash.
On the settlement between Boeing and the airline's insurer, the lawyer for SilkAir's insurer, Mr Philip Bass from Beaumont & Sons, said: 'There's been a mutual dismissal of the claims which has brought this long-standing matter to a close.'
Yesterday , Mr Ellis confirmed that they have tentatively resolved the matter with Boeing.
'If everything goes as it should, all of the claims by all of the next-of-kin against Boeing should be settled,' he told The New Paper in a phone interview.
Other lawyers say that it is not unusual for plane crash settlements to exceed millions of dollars.
SIGNIFICANT DISCOVERY
In May, Professor Oetarjo Diran, who headed the crash's official investigations, told The New Paper that while he had not examined the new evidence personally, it was indeed a significant discovery if it was true.
When contacted yesterday, Prof Diran, who has since retired as chairman of the Indonesian NTSC, said: 'If both sides cannot prove their points, they usually settle out of court.'
He noted that the NTSC couldn't conclude it was an 'intentional pilot action' either.
In the NTSC's official crash report, the only conclusion it arrived at was that it could not give a definite conclusion as to what had led to the crash.
But while the latest development may give more credence to the faulty rudder theory, it will not ease the pain for the family members of those who died.
Mr Ho Soo Leang, 37, who lost his sister, senior flight stewardess Ho Soo Phong who was then 29, is involved in the lawsuit against Boeing.
He said: 'The conclusion about the crash lies with the individual.
'But not being able to leave no stone unturned will be with us for the rest of our lives.'